I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality. -- Capt. John Jack Carter of Virginia in A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsVirginia gentleman and former Confederate officer John Carter was a former civil war vet who retired after both his wife and daughter were killed . He was prospecting for gold in 1866 until he was taken to colonel powell's base to rejoin the army to help stop apache indian attacks he escapes the base and shelters with Powell in a cave, Carter finds himself mysteriously transported to the planet Mars; not the dead world known to modern astronomers, but a world known as Barsoom to its native inhabitants. Barsoom's lesser gravity endows Carter with super-human strength and agility. Nonetheless, he is soon a prisoner of giant, six-limbed barbarians. Among the green-skinned Tharks, Carter has many adventures, eventually encountering more human Barsoomians including the incomparable princess, Dejah Thoris.John Carter's prowess at swordplay along with his courage and fighting ability soon earn the respect of the Tharks and expecially Tars Tarkas as well as all other races he encounters, including the red men. Above all he craves the love and heart of the princess of Helium and granddaughter of Tardos Mors, Dejah Thoris. In the movie it takes a while for him to develop feelings for Dejah Thoris, but Edgar Rice Burroughs would be pleased how he is portrayed and the excellent job Taylor Kitsch does playing him.